Challenges in Sustaining a Productive

Benchmarking Partnership

IWA PI Conference 2017

David Main, AECOM Canada Ltd.

Outline

• Benchmarking in Canada for almost 20 years.

• Achieved success, and we clearly addressed a need.

• Keys to success were communication and teamwork

amongst all of the benchmarking partners.

• Moving from metric to process benchmarking was the

right thing to do, but it resulted in surprising gaps

• We are still learning.

The Canada’s Water Sector

• Water services are advanced, and almost all

Canadians have access to clean water (with the

notable exception of remote Canadian First Nation

Communities)

• Water, wastewater and storm water is a municipal

responsibility.

• Provincial government acts as Regulator but

growing Federal involvement in some areas

• Water sector professionals are highly trained, well

paid and dedicated.

• Water is still plentiful and comparatively

inexpensive.

Look Back in Time: How Did NWWBI

Begin?

• Water sector issues in the late 1990s

Privatization was being introduced in the Canadian

water sector as a mechanism to potentially reduce

costs

The specter of infrastructure deterioration and

renewal was looming but not understood

Wastewater effluent regulations were on the rise

• Municipal governments were worried about affordability

and transparency

And in response?

• Municipal water/wastewater utilities had no accepted

industry specific performance metrics in use

• Generally reported only a few things:

Are we in regulatory compliance?

Did we spend out budget?

• Little ability to speak with one voice using facts and data

• “On our own” to defend and justify how we operated our

utilities to our local Council (who had a right to know)

Began as a Pilot Study in 1997-98

• 4 Western Canadian Utilities, AECOM, and Canadian

National Research Council

• Literature review included IWA 1st Edition, Vewin

Benchmarking and Scandinavian 6 Cities project

• Grew quickly in early 2000s

• In 2005, we expanded from Metric Benchmarking into

Process Benchmarking a wide range of utility practices

45 Utilities Coast to Coast

Things We Got Right

• The “Utility Management Model”

• Open Methodology

• Un-blinded Data

• Understood that the “Network” was really the engine

INTERMEDIATE LEVEL

Division Superintendant

MANAGEMENT LEVEL

Utility Manager

FUNCTIONAL LEVEL

Foreman/Lead HandR

ep

ort

s

BUSINESS UNIT:

-Cost

-Compliance

-Productivity

-System Throughput

-Work Attainment

-Work Backlog

-Customer service

Utility Cost

Compliance

Utility Productivity

Customer Service

KEY

INDICATORSOWNERS/POLITICIANS

ACTIVITY:

-Cost

-Compliance

-Productivity

-System Throughput

-Work Attainment

-Work Backlog

-Customer service

Rep

ort

sR

ep

ort

s

Utility Management Model

“Open” Methodology

• From the outset, we published everything about our KPIs

and methodology. Only the confidential data is protected

• Our view was that the more who use these practices the

better.

• Open methodology allow NWWBI to become a Canadian

Standard.

“Un-blinded” Data

• Still very rare of in the industry

• As long as data is blinded, it results in a barrier about

what you can get from benchmarking

• Un-blinded data opens almost every door you need

where is comes to performance improvement

• Credit must be given to the participants when this

decision was made. It was a huge milestone

Understood The Value of the “Network”

• This is a communication project. NWWBI enables us to

have focused conversations

• NWWBI Workshops continue to play a vital role

• The “data” is almost a backdrop to the discussion that

we want to have.

• But we have a common language with facts and

numbers

INTERMEDIATE LEVEL

Division Superintendant

MANAGEMENT LEVEL

Utility Manager

FUNCTIONAL LEVEL

Foreman/Lead HandR

ep

ort

s

BUSINESS UNIT:

-Cost

-Compliance

-Productivity

-System Throughput

-Work Attainment

-Work Backlog

-Customer service

Utility Cost

Compliance

Utility Productivity

Customer Service

KEY

INDICATORSOWNERS/POLITICIANS

ACTIVITY:

-Cost

-Compliance

-Productivity

-System Throughput

-Work Attainment

-Work Backlog

-Customer service

Rep

ort

sR

ep

ort

s

We focused first on the “Managers Level”

NWWBI progressed into

more detailed areas

included advanced

Process Benchmarking

Observations

Today?

INTERMEDIATE LEVEL

Division Superintendant

MANAGEMENT LEVEL

Utility Manager

FUNCTIONAL LEVEL

Foreman/Lead Hand

Rep

ort

s

BUSINESS UNIT:

-Cost

-Compliance

-Productivity

-System Throughput

-Work Attainment

-Work Backlog

-Customer service

Utility Cost

Compliance

Utility Productivity

Customer Service

KEY

INDICATORSOWNERS/POLITICIANS

ACTIVITY:

-Cost

-Compliance

-Productivity

-System Throughput

-Work Attainment

-Work Backlog

-Customer service

Rep

ort

sR

ep

ort

s

Less time and

energy focused

here

More time and

energy focused

here

Process Benchmarking Examples

• Water Loss Management

• Inflow and Infiltration

• Asset Management

• Maintenance Management

Linear Network

Water/wastewater treatment plants

Pump stations

• Climate Change Adaptation

• Low Impact Development

• Sustainable funding models

20 years later

• Directors and Managers involved in early years have all

retired

• New Directors have been less involved (and have less

buy-in)

• Confusion about what “benchmarking” is

Action Plans for 2017-18

INTERMEDIATE LEVEL

Division Superintendant

MANAGEMENT LEVEL

Utility Manager

FUNCTIONAL LEVEL

Foreman/Lead Hand

Rep

ort

s

BUSINESS UNIT:

-Cost

-Compliance

-Productivity

-System Throughput

-Work Attainment

-Work Backlog

-Customer service

Utility Cost

Compliance

Utility Productivity

Customer Service

KEY

INDICATORSOWNERS/POLITICIANS

ACTIVITY:

-Cost

-Compliance

-Productivity

-System Throughput

-Work Attainment

-Work Backlog

-Customer service

Rep

ort

sR

ep

ort

s

Re-invigorate

here

Continue

focus here

Closing Observations

• Who knew what this would become in 1998?

• Even after 20 years, we are still learning

• KPIs, methodology and process works very well

• But this remains essentially a communications project

• Even though it is well established, it is by no means a

permanent fixture in Canadian Water utility management

Questions?

For more information:

www.nationalbenchmarking.ca

David Main

AECOM Canada Ltd

1-604-444-6491

David.main@aecom.com